Gridlocked
by Battenburg507
Summary: Caught in a traffic jam with no hope of movement, a young man sits alone and watches the sun set. A plain orange jacket quickly changes everything, but where is his kind stranger going? AU NaruGaa, yaoi. Rated K for a kiss and one profanity.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: The idea for this fic came to me when we were driving home from Taunton last week. The sun was just setting and it looked so beautiful that I just HAD to write about it! And who better to write about than our favourite pair of Jinchuriki?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the characters 'cause they belong to the brilliant Masashi kishimoto ^-^_

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He was sitting on a fence, watching the sun sink lower and lower behind the pink tinged clouds. He felt a little frustrated, because he usually preferred to watch this from a high place like a rooftop or a hill but… He looked around him at the vast flatness of the English countryside. The nearest hills were far on the horizon, with nothing but rolling fields, hedgerows and trees in between. He hadn't even been able to climb a tree, as the saplings planted alongside this stretch of motorway were at most, only two metres tall. This fence was the best he could do.

They had been on their way to a county called Devon, his brother and sister had wanted to learn to surf and had dragged him along. He had his suspicions though, that all his siblings really wanted was to flaunt themselves in front of the "sexy surfers." He sighed. As soon as they arrived, he was going to be completely forgotten. He knew enough about his siblings to know that they wouldn't invite him along, they'd only really brought him because they would have felt guilty leaving him behind. They selfishly thought they were doing him a favour, that he would feel less lonely this way. The red haired young man could hardly believe their ignorance.

It had been almost five hours since they passed Bristol, and they were still stuck on the M5, between Bridgewater and Taunton. They'd still have had hours to go even if they were moving. He hadn't even wanted to come, and he felt extremely hard done by.

Still, the sunset was beautiful. Even if it was getting a little chilly. He hugged himself, his crimson shirt providing little warmth in the fading light. He glanced over his shoulder at their car, wondering if he should rummage through his bag for a jacket. He decided no, he'd rather stay here.

There were people getting blankets and camping stoves from their boots, settling down for the night. The blockage further down the motorway, the radio told them, would take a long time to clear, and there was little chance of diverting the traffic already marooned. They'd probably be here all night. Watching the families huddling together to keep warm, he felt an ache in his heart, and put his head in his hands in an attempt to block out the painful sensation just as his body let out a wretched shiver.

A jacket was softly lowered over his shoulders and he instinctively pulled it closer, bunching the material into his face with his fists. It was then that he noticed that the jacket wasn't his. He snapped his head up and saw a blonde haired young man in a white t-shirt climbing over the fence to sit beside him. The stranger saw him looking and smiled.

"You looked cold." He said.

Too shocked by this gesture to say anything, the redhead continued to stare at the newcomer. It had been a long time since anyone had reached out to him in kindness. Even his siblings gave him a relatively wide berth. Yet here was a man he'd never met before in his life, and he was surrendering himself to the cold for his sake.

"You…" He began, struggling to speak past his turbulent thoughts. "I can't…"

"Don't sweat it, I don't feel the cold." The blonde grinned.

He wasn't sure if he believed him, but he gratefully bunched the jacket up to his face again and turned to watch the sun touch the faraway hills.

"Thank you."

The blonde man smiled kindly at him, and his brilliant blue eyes followed his gaze to watch as the sun began to slowly melt into the tree covered horizon. The orange light cast warm shadows across their faces, even as their skin began to prickle with cold. The blonde man moved a little closer to him, until their arms were almost touching. He could feel static building between them and fought the urge to move away, for the warmth from the blonde's body was incredibly comforting.

So, when the blonde put his arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer, he didn't pull away. He turned his face into the man's t-shirt and turned his sea foam eyes up to his face.

"You're shivering." The blonde whispered, answering the question in his eyes.

The redhead looked down, huddling into his companion's chest as if he was afraid that he'd soon vanish with the sun. "Why…"

The blue eyes took on a sad glimmer which reflected the last rays of the sun's light as it finally dipped behind the hills. He brought up his other hand to cradle the shorter man's head and lowered his cheek to rest atop soft red hair. His cheery voice became soft, and yet it belied a strong determination as he said seriously,

"Because you look so damn lonely."

His body stiffened and his eyes flew open. How could he possibly tell? The blonde chuckled at the reaction and the red haired man felt the arms around him squeeze reassuringly. He relaxed a little, although he was visibly shaken.

He felt his hair being stroked, as if he were a cat. His companion hummed, and the vibrations tickled his face.

"What's your name?" The blonde asked quietly.

He wondered why it mattered. His name was a curse. A name he'd never wanted to live up to but… Somehow he'd been given little choice. He didn't want this kind stranger to think it was a name he was proud of, so he was surprised when he heard his soft voice forming the sounds,

"Gaara."

"Naruto!"

The blonde turned, reacting automatically to the female voice booming across the carriageway. Gaara spotted a pink haired girl waving an arm above her head, beckoning his kind stranger away.

"Naruto…" Gaara whispered, testing the new sounds on his tongue.

The blonde, Naruto, grinned at him again and squeezed him tight. Gaara couldn't breathe, and thought he might pass out when he felt soft lips pressing against his forehead.

"You can keep the jacket if you like." Naruto smiled, and Gaara reluctantly let him pull away. The cold hit him like a bus and his breath was knocked out of him. Naruto looked puzzled at this, and then his face cleared and he took Gaara's hands in his own. He opened his mouth to speak, but words seemed to escape him and in the end he simply squeezed Gaara's hands before he climbed back over the fence.

"Naruto…"

He turned back, and gave Gaara his most beautiful smile. Gaara suddenly found that he couldn't think, his tongue felt thick in his mouth and his full, pale eyes could only watch, mesmerised, as Naruto vanished as softly and silently as he'd come, melting into the dusk between the cars.

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_Author's Note: Well, there it is :) This is my first fanfiction so I hope it was alright. Thanks for reading! xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: A few people asked me to write some more for this story, and I did have some ideas for other chapters so... I hope I'm not spoiling the first chapter here :)_

___Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto, or the characters 'cause they still belong to the brilliant Masashi kishimoto ;)_  


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His siblings kept a vigilant eye on the people milling around them, guarding their table courageously. They'd finally pulled into a service station half an hour ago and the place was so busy they'd had to hover around until they could finally grab a table. Of course, Gaara had no intention of joining in and making a fool of himself, so he'd leaned against a wall and watched until his siblings waved him over.

Now he was staring into the dark Coffee-To-Go cupped between his hands, his thoughts drifting to the kind blonde man he'd met fleetingly the night before. He'd wondered several times already if he'd simply dreamed up the entire encounter, it seemed so unreal, but… One finger traced the edge of a sleeve. This offensively orange jacket he wore, was definitely real.

Temari had been, quite honestly, dumbfounded when she'd seen what her youngest brother was wearing. Gaara had frowned at her stupid face as she blurted out something about the "dreadful cut" and the "horrid colour." He'd felt his anger curling around him in defence of his memento. He didn't care if the jacket was ugly, it proved that Naruto was real.

"Gaara, it's gonna go cold if all you're gonna do's stare at it." Kankuro said, nudging Gaara with an elbow. The red haired man immediately drew himself further away, recoiling from the touch.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, no need to get so touchy." Kankuro scolded with a huff. "Just remember who paid for that coffee will ya?"

"Gaara?... Are you alright?" Temari asked, leaning towards him with a worried expression on her face. Gaara couldn't help but glare at her for looking like that, she didn't even know how little she truly cared.

"I'm fine." He said, bringing the coffee to his lips to avoid further conversation.

The look on Temari's face clearly said _"Like hell, you are."_ But Gaara didn't care. He wasn't in the mood to indulge his siblings right now. They weren't in his good books.

He lazily observed the scene around him. It was chaos, to put it nicely. This wasn't even the nearest service station from where they'd started out that morning. The closest had had queues that stretched for miles and after over twelve hours stuck in traffic, the siblings had unanimously decided to try the next one. However, this one wasn't much better. There were more people crowded into this building than Gaara had ever experienced in one place before and he found himself feeling incredibly claustrophobic.

"I'm going outside." He said as he got up and walked away, ignoring his siblings' surprised objections.

Walking through the throng was even worse than he'd imagined. He was being pushed around like a helpless rag doll and this infuriated him. He fleetingly wished that Naruto was there to help him, but he pushed the thought away. He didn't need anyone's help, he wasn't as weak as that.

But after a couple of minutes and being no closer to the exit, he dropped his pride enough to admit that, yes, he could do with some help.

"Outta the way! Medic coming through!"

Gaara once again found himself flung into a wall of bodies as a pink haired woman dragging a tall, sick looking man barged through the crowd like a steamroller.

_Wait, pink? _Gaara knew enough about trends to know that pink was _not_ a common hair colour, and he found himself blindly following in the woman's slipstream.

He was dazzled by the blindingly bright sunshine as soon as he stepped outside. With a little moan, he rubbed his pale, sensitive eyes and let them adjust to the dramatic increase in luminescence but in doing so, he lost sight of the pair. As he recovered, he scanned the crowd for even the merest flash of pink hair.

_There!_ He thought, a little perturbed by his excitement as he spotted her ducking around a corner. He lightly trotted down the steps and followed, slowing down and leaning in what he hoped was an inconspicuous manner against a wall when he made out voices around the corner.

"Phew! It's lucky you're so pale Sai, I'll bet most of those people in there thought you were about to pass out on the spot."

"I was under the impression that they were frightened out of your way by your ugliness." Came the sweetly spoken reply.

"WHAT?" Gaara heard a loud thump followed by the infamous sound of a body hitting the floor. He assumed that the softly spoken man had been punched. Hard. He found himself irritatingly intrigued by the exchange and risked a peek over his shoulder.

Big mistake.

Gaara's eyes flew open as his feet left the ground, his body being dragged up into the air by the front of Naruto's jacket by an angry pink haired demon. At least, that was what she looked like. He glared at her for her insolence and growled,

"Unhand me."

"What're you doing eavesdropping on us?" She demanded, ignoring his mildly threatening tone.

"I'm doing no such thing. Now let go of me."

"You were hiding behind the corner, I saw you! Now spill!" She shook him slightly, glancing as she did so at the clothing she was grasping. With a shriek, she suddenly threw him to the floor and backed away.

"Are you stalking us?" She asked. Gaara couldn't answer, he had no idea what the crazy woman was talking about.

"What are you doing with Naruto's… Jack… et…" her voice trailed off as her memory seemed to catch up with her. She pointed a finger at him accusingly. "You're that guy from last night! I saw you with Naruto!"

"Naruto?" Gaara breathed the word, amazed that this was, indeed, the same pink haired girl. It had been a long shot to say the least. He felt his heartbeat stammer and hope welling into his voice as he insisted, "Is he here?"

"Sai, we're leaving. Now." She said, panic lacing her words as she grabbed the wrist of the hand that the deathly pale man had been about to hold out to Gaara in greeting and pulled him away from the confused red haired man on the ground at a rate of knots.

"Wait!" Gaara called, hastily pulling himself back onto his feet. But he was too late. They'd already ducked their heads and disappeared into the car park.

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_Author's Note: I've never written a Sakura before, so I'd like it if you let me know if you think I've written her alright? :) Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters, Masashi Kishimoto does. But if I did, then the sad siblings would appear MUCH more frequently! Because I love them ^-^_

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Kankuro hefted the surfboard he'd rented for the week over his shoulder and narrowly missed smacking Temari in the face as he swung around to ask her if she was ready yet. If he hadn't practically forgotten what comedy was, Gaara might have laughed at the ridiculousness of the scene before him. Temari was frantically dashing in and out of her tent, looking for sun-block, hairspray, mascara, you name it! While Kankuro impatiently paced around the camp telling her to hurry up.

Gaara only half watched them. He was still incredibly confused by what happened at the service station. He couldn't figure out why the girl would have run away from him like he was a threat, and why he should even have cared in the first place. Gaara wasn't used to being let down, because he hadn't gotten his hopes up about anything for many many years. He'd practically forgotten what hope was until he'd heard the pink haired girl say Naruto's name.

To be honest, Gaara hated the feeling which had taken root within him. He hated the crushing disappointment which had followed that surge of hope and now refused to leave him alone. He hated what Naruto had done to him but at the same time... He knew that he'd give anything to see the blonde man again. Now that he knew what kindness felt like, he didn't want to let it go.

That, he decided, was entirely the problem.

"For Christ's sakes Temari, hurry the hell up will ya?" Kankuro yelled, snapping Gaara out of his reverie. Gaara watched as he stomped into the tent and dragged out an appalled Temari by the upper arm. His older brother snatched the lip gloss out of Temari's hand and threw it back into her tent before thrusting her smaller surfboard towards her.

"Take it. We're leaving. Now." Kankuro said, slowly and clearly. Temari glared at him, clearly livid about being patronised. "There's no point putting that crap on your face when the water's just gonna wash it all off."

"You're a fine one to talk." Temari snarled under her breath as she snatched the surfboard out of Kankuro's hands and stormed off. Kankuro, who hadn't heard her comment apparently, jogged a little to catch up, a victorious grin plastered all over his face.

Gaara listened to their bickering voices fading pleasantly into the distance and dipped his head in relief. He'd been waiting for some peace and quiet all morning, but had stubbornly stayed put outside his and Kankuro's tent since he'd been the first up. Why should he have to move just because his siblings were selfish and loud?

He put down the book he'd been pretending to read and tilted back his head, the sun's warmth soaking into the pale skin of his face. It was a rather pleasant feeling, one which Gaara wasn't used to since he spent so much time indoors, away from people. Perhaps he'd wander down to the beach as well, he thought. He quickly stuffed his book into his backpack and started the five minute walk to the beach before he changed his mind.

Once he got there, he realised that the beach was bigger than he'd thought it would be. This particular bay was called Croyde, and the beach was settled between two outcroppings of land and spread out between them in the vague shape of a crescent moon. The tide was currently quite a long way out, so there was a lot of smooth, wet sand between him and the sea which his siblings were currently fooling around in somewhere. He could see a particularly crowded area of water about midway down the beach, between two flags. There were lifeguards at either end, shouting through their megaphones occasionally. Beyond those flags, Gaara could see the surfers bobbing between the waves. There wasn't a great deal of wind today, so technically the waves weren't that great for surfing, but he eventually spotted his brother drifting lazily around on his board and his sister flirting with a small group of tanned men near the water's edge.

He dropped himself down onto the soft, dry sand beneath his feet and slipped off his sandals, shaking the sand off them before reaching round and putting them in his backpack. It felt cooler here than it had on the campsite but the sun was still warming his exposed skin. Temari had warned them both about the dangers of sunburn earlier that morning, Gaara recalled, and with a sigh he rummaged in his backpack for the sun-block.

As he rubbed the sweet smelling stuff into his skin, he looked around the beach in wonder. He hadn't thought there'd be so much to _do_ on a barren stretch of sand but yet he saw people playing volleyball, people sunbathing, people playing cricket and rounders, people swimming, people fishing in rock pools, people digging holes, people burying various limbs, people building sandcastles... And people surfing of course.

The penultimate of these was what caught his attention the most. Gaara was a renowned sculptor at the art college he attended in the evenings but he'd never before sculpted anything out of sand. It looked marvellously challenging, he thought, deciding at once that he wasn't going to lose to a snot nosed five year old.

Gaara lifted his bag over one shoulder and carefully trod over the bed of sharp little broken shells which lay between the soft sand and the sand which had been smoothed by the water. He gladly stepped onto the latter, the soles of his feet tingling. He walked down the edge of the beach, beside the rock pools and when he passed a particularly large and deep pool which several small children were swimming in, he put his bag down on the rocks and analysed the untouched sand before him.

_I should have bought a spade,_ he thought with a little irritation. But he didn't want to walk all the way back up the beach to the little shop he'd passed on the way here and instead scoured the beach around him until he found a discarded one with a broken handle. Then he went to work.

First, he dug a shallow pit out of the sand and replaced its contents lightly. He didn't want to build straight onto the hard sand lest the entire castle should shift on the smooth surface. He'd decided to build a castle since that was what everyone else seemed to be attempting and Gaara hadn't had any better ideas.

Once his base was ready, he dug up some more sand from a spot a few metres away from which to build the castle. He wished he'd thought to find a bucket as well as he transported the dug up sand from the hole to the castle with only his little broken spade.

For an hour or so, Gaara piled the sand up and smoothed it roughly into shape. He found that it was rather difficult to get the sand beyond a certain height before gravity's call caused it to crumble away so it was with a great struggle that he finally had his castle; or rather his fortress, ready for its detailing. He flipped the broken spade around in his fingers and used the broken end of the handle to carve windows into the walls, and brickwork around the windows. He created a convincing double height door at the entrance to his sand fortress and then set about adding the brickwork to other parts of the sandy walls.

He was just finishing the last touches to his numerously towered, wall encompassed sand keep when he felt the eyes on him. He was used to being glared at, and snapped his head up to return the favour when he recognised the intruder.

Sitting beside Gaara's backpack with a sketchbook lying across his lap was the sickly looking man from the service station, who'd been with the pink haired girl who knew Naruto. Gaara felt all the words he knew drain suddenly into the sand beneath his feet as he comprehended the meaning of this encounter. He knew what this meant, but his brain couldn't form the thought around the blank curtain of shock which struck him at that moment.

Meanwhile, the pale man was smiling pleasantly at him. After a while when Gaara hadn't moved or even blinked, he spoke.

"Hello. We met yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. My name's Sai." Sai leaned forward and held out his hand, waiting. Gaara swallowed and slowly got up and reached out, shaking Sai's hand. Sai continued to smile at him, and Gaara supposed he wanted to know his name too. He took a breath before he croaked out his name.

"Gaara."

"Ah, so you _are_ the boy Naruto was talking about." Sai said, leaning back and looking Gaara over. "He said you had red hair, but I assumed he meant ginger. I'm pleased that it is actually a much nicer colour."

Gaara wasn't sure how he was supposed to reply to that, but he wasn't in a position to speak anyway. He was shaking and his tongue felt heavy again. He desperately wanted to ask Sai if Naruto was here, if he'd interpreted this right; but he vividly remembered the pink haired girl's reaction to his enthusiasm the day before and tried frantically to control himself before he frightened this man away again. He had to get the answer out of him without asking directly, he decided, but how?

"You're not very talkative are you?" Sai said, interrupting Gaara's growing panic. "Perhaps you'd like to hear an embarrassing story? A joke perhaps?"

"No, that's alright." Gaara said quickly. Eyes latching onto the sketchpad Sai held, he cleared his throat and asked tentatively, "What are you drawing?"

Sai turned the pad over and held it up for Gaara to see, revealing an incredibly lifelike picture of Gaara, sculpting his sand masterpiece. Gaara immediately felt both surprised and self-conscious, experiencing an uncomfortable burning sensation on his ears. That was the last thing Gaara had expected to see, but it was actually a very good drawing. The Gaara in Sai's picture was handsome, the seriousness with which he took his task clear on his smooth face but the joy of it sparkling in his eyes.

He once again lived up to Sai's synopsis and could think of nothing to say. "You like it?" Sai asked when Gaara did nothing but stare in amazement. Closing his mouth which he realised with some embarrassment had been hanging open, Gaara looked up at Sai and nodded. The dark haired man smiled oddly again and said, "I'm glad."

"I have another here which you might like." Sai continued, turning the pad back and flipping backwards through the pages until he beckoned Gaara over. Hesitantly, Gaara did as he was instructed and came round to peer curiously over Sai's shoulder.

Gaara thought his heart had stopped, it felt like it was choking him.

It was Naruto. Gaara had had no idea how seeing the blonde again would affect him, but he certainly didn't expect this feeling from looking at a mere picture. Although, "mere" was an incredibly unfair thing to say about the portrait Sai had drawn. It was beautiful.

It showed the blonde boy sitting in an armchair with his arms wrapped around his knees. He seemed to have just looked up at something the artist had said and grinned. It wasn't quite the same breathtaking smile which had rendered Gaara speechless just two days ago, but it was an almost perfect replica. Almost, because the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Even though Naruto's eyes were closed, Gaara could see that there was tension around them. There was a deeply buried sadness around Naruto's eyes which he was trying to hide from the people around him. It reminded Gaara with a pang of the indifferent front he himself put up to hide his own heavily denied heartache. Gaara felt his eyes begin to prickle uncomfortably and scrunched his dark rimmed eyes closed to dispel the feeling. He knew what that meant and he'd promised himself he'd never cry again. However much Naruto's pain hurt Gaara, he wouldn't allow himself to show it. Especially in front of Sai.

With a snap, Sai flipped onto the back page of the sketchbook and scribbled something down in the corner. With a flourish, he tore the paper away and held it out for Gaara to take. Surprised by the sudden movement, Gaara's eyes had opened wide but now they narrowed in confusion.

"It's my phone number. I'll call you later." Sai said, pressing the paper into Gaara's hand as he stood, hitched his sketchbook up under his arm and walked away.

"That doesn't make any sense." Gaara muttered to himself before calling out to Sai's retreating back, "How will you know my number?"

"I copied it out of your phone!" The mysterious man called back, walking backwards as he shouted and never missing a step as he spun back around and continued on up the beach.

A little disturbed by the thought of Sai rummaging through his things, Gaara punched the boy's number into his phone and swung his backpack over his shoulder. He couldn't believe it. Maybe Sai would give him Naruto's phone number if he asked. But even if he did... What would he say to the kind blonde man?

With his life seeming to take a turn for the better, Gaara allows himself a secret little smile and sets out to search for his siblings in a much brighter mood.

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_Author's Note: The next chapter will be in Sai's POV and it will have Naruto in it, I promise! :D x_


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Okay, just remember this chapter's told from Sai's point of view... As much as it can be in the third person anyhoo :D I tried to slip in a little bit of Sai-humour in this chapter, so please let me know if it sucks, 'cause as much as I love it, I'm not great at writing humour xD Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, just to let you know, these place names are all real, so you could look up the places I'm talking about if you really wanted to x_

* * *

Of all the people he'd met since Naruto found him, Sakura was the most difficult to understand. Sai could now fathom almost any of Naruto's friends' moods and intentions thanks to the uncompromising patience of his blonde mentor, but Sakura… She was a constant challenge because she was such a natural actress and could be very convincing.

Now, Sai wondered what her game was with Gaara. After meeting the young man, Sai had detected nothing threatening from the calm, quiet redhead but Sakura… The panic which had spread across her face and crept into her voice was no act, Sai knew that. But why? Why was she afraid of him?

Sai puzzled as he thought back to how she'd shoved his head down and made him creep between the parked cars in order to lose the red haired man. She'd made him walk like that all the way to the car and then she'd leaned against it and sighed deeply.

"What was that about?" He'd asked.

Sakura had glanced up to make sure they hadn't been followed, then turned to look at him seriously and replied in an urgent whisper,

"Naruto's on holiday. I don't want him to take on any more responsibility than he already has."

This, Sai understood. Naruto was a people person. He lived to help people. It was Naruto's dream to improve the lives of the people around him, to relieve their sadness any way he could. Sai himself was a testament to Naruto's patience and skill, since Naruto had found him with little to no social awareness or skills and had gradually taught him how to interact with people and included him in his own social circle. Although still not perfect, Sai was now at the very least tolerated and in many cases accepted by his age-mates and it was all thanks to Naruto.

He wasn't the only person Naruto worked with. The blonde also helped two men called Neji and Sasuke who had a superiority complex and an obsession with revenge respectively. Neji was a lot better these days, but Sasuke had moved away before showing much improvement and later been arrested for the attempted murder of his brother or something. It could just be a rumour, but what Sai knew for sure was that Naruto wrote to his ex-comrade religiously every week. He was still doing his best to help the miserable man, though personally, Sai thought he was wasting his time.

But this Gaara… Even the socially stunted Sai could see that Gaara was different from any of the people Naruto had dealt with so far. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something… sad about the red haired man which seemed so unnecessary. Sai really didn't think that Naruto would have to shoulder any responsibility with this one, as Sakura put it. She'd made him promise not to tell Naruto about seeing Gaara yesterday, but he decided that this time the blonde deserved to know.

By this point, Sai had already passed Ruda Holiday Park and was making his way up the road to another campsite called Cherry Tree Farm. Sakura had insisted they stay there, since the name of the site matched her own and it was bound to mean good luck. Sai had his doubts.

"Hey! Sai!"

_Speak of the devil_… Sai turned and spread a fake smile across his face. "Hello, Ugly."

"Oh shut it will you? I was going to ask if you wanted to grab a coffee with me while Naruto tries on some ridiculously overpriced clothes but if you're going to be like that then I won't bother." Sakura pouted and raised her chin indignantly, turning to leave.

"How about, I'll pay, and we sit outside so less people see me with you?"

Sakura turned back and grinned. "You're treating?"

"Yes."

She skipped back to his side and linked arms with him, smiling up at him sweetly. "Well in that case, what are we waiting for? Naruto's bound to take forever, so we might as well get a cake too!"

Sai wondered if this was why Naruto never took money out with him.

They'd found themselves a table outside a café on the village's little high street. Sai placed Sakura's sponge cake down on the round table and handed her her drink as he sat down.

"Thanks, Sai." Sakura said as she inhaled some of the rich smelling steam flowing from her cup and blew across the surface of the hot beverage. She seemed relaxed, maybe now would be a good time to ask her about Gaara.

"I met that man again today." He began. Immediately Sakura tensed, her eyes slowly swivelling around to meet his own. _Hm, maybe not._

"He's here?"

"I believe that's what I just said."

Sakura leaned an elbow on the table and drummed her fingers against the aluminium surface anxiously. She closed her eyes and hummed deeply, more like a growl than a hum really.

"Damn it." She muttered, "What are the chances?"

_So much for her lucky campsite_, Sai thought.

"I don't understand." He said aloud, "What is it that makes you so agitated about him? He seemed nice to me."

She sighed and checked to make sure Naruto wasn't coming before she leaned in a little closer and said quietly, "Sai, I know you know how hard Naruto works with you and Sasuke and everyone." Sai nodded. "Well… I'm worried about him."

"You think he works too hard?"

"Exactly." Sakura sighed, relieved that Sai was getting it.

"What does that have to do with Gaara?"

"Gaara?"

"That's his name."

"Oh, right. Well…" She seemed to struggle to find the words, which Sai had learned to take as proof of her sincerity. She was being honest with him now. "I'm worried that Naruto's… That he'd take that kid under his wing as well. He's got enough to deal with as it is without adding another troubled kid into the mix. He never has any time to himself, he'll make himself ill if he doesn't let himself _relax_ a little… I know he works hard because he's kind and selfless… but he's got to learn to be a little selfish too. He's got to take care of himself before he takes care of other people!"

Again, Sai nodded. "I see." Again, Sakura sighed sadly.

"I booked this holiday to give him a break. I just don't want him to end up doing exactly the same here as he was back home."

"I can understand that," Sai said, "But I'm afraid I don't agree with you."

She snapped her head up, "What?"

"I think Gaara would do Naruto some good."

"Sai, please don't tell him!" Sakura begged, her voice pitching a little as she began once more to panic.

"Don't tell who what?"

"Gaah!" Sakura flailed, stumbling to her feet and knocking over her chair. "N-Naruto! We were just- I mean Sai was telling me about-"

"I met Gaara today."

"SAI!"

Sai didn't flinch as Sakura's fist came hurtling towards him. He flicked his eyes up to her face and she stopped an inch away from him, turning in horror to follow Sai's gaze and face her dearest friend.

Naruto was standing stock-still. He didn't seem to be breathing.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, dashing to his side and gently shaking his shoulders. Naruto shook his head and blinked at her, dumbfounded. "is that what you didn't want him to tell me?" He whispered.

"Naruto, I was just-"

"You just what? You just thought you'd control my life from behind the scenes?"

"If you'd just let me finish-"

"This isn't one of your plays you know! I'm not just another rookie actor you can boss around. This is my _life_ you're messing with."

"Naruto, please-"

"Sai, are you sure? Are you sure it was him?" Naruto asked, cutting off the pink haired girl.

"Yes. And I can prove it, too."

"Sai, _please!_"

Sai placed his sketchbook on the table and started leafing through it.

"Naruto it was for your own good!" Sakura cried desperately, but her blonde friend wasn't listening.

Sai let the pad fall open and Naruto slowly edged towards him. Sakura could only watch in defeat as Naruto's face became a sea of expression, finally settling on illuminating joy.

"That's him! Sai, where did you meet him?"

"On the beach."

Sakura groaned in frustration, turned tail and ran. Only the older of the two boys noticed the guilty tears rolling down her cheeks as they watched her go.

"Where on the beach?"

Sai tore out the portrait of Gaara and handed it to Naruto, who clutched it reverently.

"Look for that sandcastle. The tide's still out so it should still be there."

Naruto laughed excitedly and grabbed his odd friend in an exuberant hug. "Thank you, Sai!" He cried merrily as he bounded over the short wall beside them and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the beach. Sai watched him go and smiled to himself. Surely… Surely happiness wasn't bad for you.

_But I wonder if Sakura's going to be mad at me. I don't really want a pounding._ Sai thought as he reached across the table for Sakura's cake.

* * *

_Author's Note: Phew, Sakura's little speech right there was a hard 'un to phrase... I hope that turned out alright 'cause I think I might cry inside if I had to stress over it any longer T.T _

_Thank you so much for all the reviews, They've been really helpful! :D Naruto's chapter's up next so don't go anywhere! ;D xx_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Here's chapter five! I can now confirm that there'll be another two after this, since I've finally finished all my plotty-planning and decided how this is gonna pan out ;D Thanks for sticking with me, I'll hopefully have the next chapter up soon :) I hope you enjoy this one! x_

_Disclaimer: The characters still aren't mine. The lucky Masashi Kishimoto owns them all T.T_

* * *

Naruto practically leapt over the stream trickling onto the beach, startling the people walking across the slab of rock which served as a bridge. He was grinning with wild excitement as he skidded to a halt and peered up the beach.

"Where is he?" Naruto asked himself, holding his hand above his eyes to shield them from the sun and turning his head back and forth. He could see a lot of people swimming, all crowded together but he didn't spot anyone with red hair there. Ditto for the people playing volleyball and ditto again for the people bobbing around on their surfboards. Naruto unrolled Sai's picture, which he'd been holding in his other hand, and after smiling gently at Gaara's image, studied the sandcastle more closely. The first thing he noted, which would set it apart from any other sandcastle, was its size. A sandcastle that big should have been easy to spot but craning his neck, Naruto couldn't see it anywhere.

"Gah!" He yelped in surprise as his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. _Damn phone_, he thought. _I was sure I turned vibrate off. _He glanced at the caller ID before picking it up.

"Sai, did you turn the vibrate on again?"

"I know you like it really." Came the teasing reply. "He was over by the rock pools when I left him. Seeya."

Naruto blinked as he heard the phone being hung up. Then he sighed with a little smirk, put his own phone away and chuckled to himself, "Thanks Sai, you jerk."

He rolled the portrait back up again and ran as fast as he could up the beach. No _way_ was he gonna waste this second chance that fate had generously given him! He'd been stupid enough to leave Gaara without giving him so much as an e-mail address once already and he'd regretted it enough to even lose sleep. What was the point in making friends if you just ditched them two minutes later huh? He felt like such a jerk.

But as soon as he found Gaara, he was gonna make it up to him, he promised himself. He was gonna be the best damn friend the red head ever had! He felt his heart lurch uncomfortably and clutched at his shirt instinctively to calm it.

As soon as he found him.

When he came level with the first of the jutting rocks, Naruto paused. The wet sand which Gaara would have built the castle on was to his left, but if he'd already headed out… He'd have gone right towards the campsites. How long had Sai said it had been since he left Gaara here? An hour? Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It would have been lunch time about then… But maybe he had a packed lunch or something. With one last glance up the beach to his right, he bolted off toward the water.

As he ran, he passed a lot of people heading back up the beach, dragging spades, inflatables and reluctant children behind them. It had gotten a bit cloudy, so the chill air coming off the sea was starting to put off the holiday makers, though the surfers and stuff must have been totally used to the cold my now and most of them stayed put hoping for better waves. Naruto lifted his chin as he ran, ignoring the odd looks the tourists were aiming his way. He was used to being stared at. No big deal.

Unfortunately, he was so busy checking for Gaara amongst the people he passed that he almost smashed right through a sandcastle. With a yelp, he managed to sidestep it just in time but he'd thrown himself off balance and plummeted comically sideways into a hole a few feet away.

"What the hell was _that?_" He yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "What kind of jerk leaves a massive hole like that! I could have broken my neck or something!"

Naruto heard restrained laughter and turned to glare at the small group of teenagers walking past him. "What're _you_ laughing at?" he demanded, causing the group to laugh harder and push each other into a run. He could hear them laughing at him even when they reached the soft sand. He could almost sense the heads which had turned in his direction and it was with a great deal of stubborn pride that he heaved himself out the hole and stood facing the water, his shoulders tensed in frustration.

_Just once,_ he thought bitterly,_ I'd like someone not to laugh…_

He felt a childish urge to hide, and bunched his fists to fight it. No way was he gonna hide from the likes of _them!_

…_Wait a sec… Something's not right here._ Naruto thought. He repeated the action, opening and closing his fists. His _empty_ fists… _Gaara's picture!_

He patted his clothing, _I must have dropped it when I fell?_ He snapped around and looked around him with a knot of panic slowly forming in his gut. It was a bit windy… What if it blew away?

"No no no! It can't have!" Naruto cried, his hands clamping the sides of his head. He resumed his over exaggerated search, ready to burst into a run if he spotted the flimsy sheet of paper fluttering across the sand. "I gotta find it!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw movement and looked down at the sandcastle he'd stumbled over before. Flapping against the edge of the castle, pinned down by the breeze, was the picture.

"Oh, thank God!" Naruto thankfully dived for it, snatching it to his chest protectively. "It's a good job this thing was here." He mumbled, "Or you might have been blown away. Well I'm not losing you again!" He rolled the picture back up and stuck it into his pocket, although most of it just poked out anyway. As he lifted his head from the task, his eyes drifted over the sandcastle which had been both his saviour and his downfall.

He did a double take.

Then he whipped the picture right back out again.

Looking from one to the other, Naruto's face slowly spread into a grin and laughter crept into his throat as he compared the two. "No way! This is Gaara's sandcastle? Hehe, I found it!... Wait, I almost smushed it…" Naruto cringed with relief. _Now I'm glad I fell on my face._

Having located Gaara's previous location, Naruto looked around him again, as if hoping that the red head would now suddenly reappear. That was just a silly idea though, and he turned glumly back to the sandcastle, plopping himself onto the sand beside it.

"He was right here…" Naruto reached out to brush an outer wall with his fingertips. "He built this himself." He snatched his hand away suddenly, checking the sand structure for damage. _I don't wanna break it,_ he thought, instead leaning forward to look more closely.

For starters, It was easily the biggest sand_castle_ he'd ever seen. Sure, he'd seen some pretty huge sand_piles_ and such, but this was… well it was a work of art! It deserved to be in a museum or something! The closer Naruto looked, the more he felt like he was walking through a little medieval community, surrounded securely on every side by high walls and protected by the snug, ivy covered keep. He laughed merrily to himself as he carried his basket of bread rolls through the streets lined by thatched houses, selling the freshly baked goods to the passersby as they milled around to the chiming of the bells atop the inviting little chapel and keep…

"Gah! Cold cold cold!"

Naruto leapt to his feet, but he soon forgot about the cold water running down his legs as he watched, in sickening slow motion, Gaara's beautiful castle melting away.

"NO NO NO NO NO!" He cried, sinking to his knees and clumsily struggling against the tide to rebuild the side of the keep. Another wave, smaller this time, swept away the bottom of a tower and Naruto felt tears burning in his eyes and in his throat as his desperate struggle to hold the tower up came to nothing, the sand breaking away under his hands.

"No…" the tears streamed freely down his face as he realised that he had no power against the tide. He had no power against the force of nature. He suddenly felt very small and very useless, kneeling in the deepening water, watching helplessly as Gaara's hard work was swept off the face of the earth.

It was some time before Naruto's dragging feet finally brought him to their tent. He glumly dropped himself to the ground and buried his face in his hands. He knew he was being melodramatic, that it was stupid to get so upset over a sandcastle. It was doomed to the fate he'd just witnessed as soon as Gaara had stuck his spade in the sand.

But Gaara had built it. And now it was gone.

Sai was certain that Naruto had not noticed his presence as he walked onto their plot and collapsed onto the grass. He watched quietly as Naruto fought against the tears which Sai could see on his whisker-marked cheeks, wondering what had caused Naruto's distress.

It was another five minutes or so before Sai spoke up.

"I take it you didn't find him then?"

It was quite amusing, the shock on Naruto's face at the sound of his overly sweet voice. Sai smiled his odd smile as Naruto quickly dashed the tears from his face and plastered on a fake grin in their place.

"Sai! I uh… I didn't see you there."

"Evidently."

Naruto's painfully bright smile dropped from him like a discarded mask. He slumped over, pressing the heel of his hand into his eye as he frowned at the ground. "The sandcastle's gone."

"Hm, the tide must have turned faster than I thought." Sai said, never dropping his sweet smile.

"I was there… I watched it…"

"That was very morbid of you."

"I couldn't help it!" Naruto lifted his head and cried into the sky.

Sai couldn't understand what had upset Naruto so much about watching a sandcastle being destroyed when he'd witnessed the boy joyously smashing many a sandcastle in the past.

"Gaara wasn't there." Sai said. It wasn't a question, Sai could see the answer in Naruto's body language as soon as he appeared. He felt a little guilty when Naruto's body froze, his sad eyes hidden behind his unruly fringe. However…

"No need to cry about it." Sai continued to smile, knowing the expression would frustrate the blonde intensely. Naruto looked up and glared at Sai, demanding to know what that was supposed to mean.

"I gave him my phone number."

That made the blonde man's features change dramatically. However, the moment of confused elation was quickly replaced by a glare once more as he demanded,

"Why the hell did you do that?"

Sai smiled the most sickening smile he could muster, taking a great deal of pleasure in winding up his friend.

"Because he's cute, of course!"

Sai's ears were suddenly ringing as a spatula clattered to the ground beside him. Naruto, who had propelled the projectile at the side of Sai's head, sat motionlessly with his arm still outstretched. He was smirking, but he growled at the pale man.

"If you make a move on him, you'll be sorry."

"Hm, so that's how it is?" Sai chuckled, "very interesting!"

"What? That's how what is?"

"Are you really so naïve Naruto?"

He received another growl in response, making the pale man laugh once more.

"My my, so protective!" Sai commented, shielding the sore spot on his head against the wooden spoon flying past him. "Alright, I'll leave him alone Naruto. But first…" Sai grinned naturally this time, wiggling his phone in his palm. "We're going out tonight, and I'm inviting your adorable little _friend_."


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

* * *

Gaara checked his watch nervously, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he leaned against the low wall outside the Ruda park. He couldn't believe how many people were _still_ strolling past him in both directions! He'd have thought that as the night drew in there'd be less people heading onto the beach and more people heading into the village, having just _left_ the beach. Maybe he'd head down to the beach this time tomorrow, and see if there was anything interesting going on which drew so much footfall.

Checking his watch again, Gaara cursed himself for being so... He didn't know the word for the anticipation he was feeling, though he recognised the impatient part of it. Where was he? He should have been here five minutes ago.

Sai had called him that afternoon, as he'd said he would. Gaara had been walking back from the market with Temari when he got the call and his sister had been very curious as to who it was.

"But Gaara, no one _ever_ calls you." She'd said incredulously. Gaara snorted by way of an answer, trying not to show his sister how that comment felt like a knife in his side.

"Well someone's calling me now, so if you wouldn't mind..."

"Hmf. Troublesome little brother." She'd muttered as she walked ahead in a huff. _That boyfriend of hers is rubbing off on her_, Gaara thought. As soon as she was out of ear shot, Gaara had picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

"Gaara, how are you?"

Gaara still couldn't believe how forward the strange man was, it unnerved him quite a bit. Hesitantly, he answered,

"Uh, I'm alright?"

"Great! How'd you like to come out with us later?"

Gaara'd felt his throat constrict, "Out?"

"Yes. What are you doing at eight?"

"Nothing?"

"You are now! What campsite are you staying at?"

"Ruda?" Gaara answered all his questions like that, with an uncertain rise in pitch at the end. He heard some movement on Sai's end of the line and frowned, trying to make out the source of the sound. However, Sai started talking again, cutting off the background noise.

"We'll meet you outside Ruda at eight then, see you later!"

Gaara hadn't had time to answer, as Sai had already hung up. He sighed, relieved that the phone call was over. But the relief hadn't lasted long, because after walking a few more paces, Gaara had slowly ground to a halt, butterflies seeming to pound him in the stomach and settle there uneasily.

_Did... Did he say "we?"..._

Now, Gaara had no reason to assume that Sai meant himself and Naruto when he said "We," he could just have easily meant the scary pink haired woman. It didn't have to be Naruto... What Gaara couldn't understand was why the thought of his meeting Naruto should cause such uncomfortable feelings in him anyway. He _wanted_ to see Naruto again, right? So why was he dreading it?

Being alone was a whole lot easier than these confusing, conflicting feelings Gaara decided, dropping his head in defeat. _Is companionship really worth all this hassle?_

"Gaara!"

He lifted his head and looked up the street, searching for the person who'd called his name. It hadn't sounded like Sai... _Oh, but there he is._ Gaara thought, spotting the smiling man walking towards him with his hands in his pockets. Sai lifted a hand in greeting, smiling a little wider. The fluttering in Gaara's gut settled a little on seeing the pale man, without extras, and he raised his hand the same way Sai had.

As he did so, he was tackled to the ground by a giggling yellow blur. Disorientated, Gaara stared wide eyed at the mass of orange which now lay on top of him.

"Didn't you see me?" An amused voice asked, "I called you and everything!"

"Well you _are_ wearing your invisible suit." Sai said, appearing in Gaara's view with a very, _very_ amused look on his face. Smug almost.

The colourful mass on top of him shifted and pushed himself up to stare at Sai, "Was that meant to be a joke?" He said incredulously. "You're getting better, the sarcasm really suits you."

_Yes, yes it is._

Gaara stared in wonder at the man above lying above him. From here, Gaara could make out the orange t-shirt, the spiky blonde hair... and when the man turned to look at him again with a beaming smile, the extraordinarily blue eyes. He had to swallow a couple of times before he could get his voice to work, and when he did, he could have kicked himself in irritation at the ridiculous stutter which came out.

"N-Naruto?"

"Heehee," Naruto giggled, rubbing one of his cheeks with a finger. "Hey, Gaara. How you doing?"

"I think you're crushing him." Sai said calmly. Naruto looked down and upon realising that he was, indeed still on top of Gaara, he got up so fast he gave himself a headrush and almost fell straight back down on his ass. Gaara felt a wave of disappointment when the blonde moved, but brushed the feeling aside and shook his head as Naruto rolled off a ream of insistent apologies.

"It's alright." Gaara said, "I'm fine."

Naruto grinned, and Gaara's heart did a somersault in his chest. Naruto watched in interest while Gaara dropped his head to hide his face behind his fringe, afraid that one of the other boys might notice how warm his cheeks had gotten all of a sudden. Sai observed quietly as one boy smiled warmly at the other, who was blushing and staring nervously at his toes.

_Hm, so that _is_ how it is..._

"Well Dickless, I'm going to go and find your ugly friend." Sai announced, drawing two pairs of eyes towards him. "Don't stay out too late." He added with a smile as he turned and walked back up the road, waving over his shoulder. The two boys watched him leave, feeling a heavy silence fall around them the further away the dark haired man got.

"That sneaky... He planned this all along!" Naruto muttered with a face-palm. Gaara watched him curiously, _planned what?_ He wondered.

Naruto turned back to Gaara and looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. The red head was wearing a lavender shirt under a light grey jacket. He had it buttoned up all the way to the top, staving off the non-existent cold in a way which gave Naruto the impression that Gaara was used to a much warmer climate. He made a mental note to ask him about it later. The only summery item of clothing the man wore were the sandals on his feet, which were half hidden by the dark grey or faded black jeans he wore anyway. _He looks... great!_ Naruto thought.

Gaara was aware of Naruto's appraising eyes sweeping across him and he held his breath until he thought the blonde was done. The way Naruto smiled was making his insides flutter unbearably and he silently begged the blonde to hurry up and say something to break the tension which he'd felt choking him since Sai'd said he was leaving them... alone.

"How lucky's this huh?" Gaara looked up when Naruto finally spoke, berating himself for acting like such an idiot. He was really irritating himself right now. "I mean, I didn't... I thought..." Naruto cleared his throat, and an apologetic look appeared on his face. "I'm sorry, Gaara... about ditching you before."

Gaara remembered what Naruto had said to him on the fence, and repeated the words, "Don't sweat it."

That made Naruto laugh, and Gaara smiled a little despite himself. It was such a heart warming sound.

"Hey, Gaara? What d'you wanna do?" Naruto asked, bouncing on his heels as he leaned towards Gaara expectantly. The red head hesitantly replied,

"I don't mind."

Naruto beamed, taking one of Gaara's hands in his own as he turned to walk back up the street towards the village. "I know a great ice-cream place, it'll be my treat!" Gaara followed him without question, wondering at the warmth he garnered from the gentle pressure Naruto's hand wrapped around his own as they walked.

Naruto talked a lot, and Gaara thought that was fine, because he was content just to listen to the ramblings of his companion, still not quite believing that he was really here. Every now and then, Gaara gave Naruto's hand a shy little squeeze, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming when his hand was squeezed right back.

Naruto pointed out all sorts of things to Gaara as they walked; the campsite he'd stayed on when he came here with his perverted godfather one year, a house he'd stayed in when he came with his aunt,

"She's got a lot of money, 'cause she's some kind of super doctor or something and she _refused_ to camp." Naruto explained when Gaara looked at the house with awe. Next, Naruto pointed out the car dealership where Jiraiya had promised to buy him a car when he learned to drive.

They were in the village now, and Gaara was familiar with most of the places Naruto pointed out to him, enjoying instead the little anecdotes Naruto threw in for each place they passed. Again, Gaara was surprised by the number of people still hanging around here. The surf shop had closed, as had the café. The pub was still open, however, and Gaara saw many families making their way inside for their evening meals. There was an inviting hum of activity coming from inside, and Gaara made a note to bring Temari and Kankuro here tomorrow, before he went to check out what was still drawing people onto the beach.

Before reaching the pub, Naruto stopped outside a cramped, noisy little parlour which Gaara saw sold ice cream and doughnuts. The sickeningly sweet smell from inside made Gaara reel a bit, and Naruto told him to wait outside while he got their ice-creams.

"What flavour'd you like?" He asked, examining the billboard outside.

"If you're sure it's alright?" Gaara asked, to which Naruto's reply was a smile and a playful roll of his eyes. Gaara's eyes shimmered with amusement and he said, "Mint choc-chip, please."

"Huh? You sure?"

"What's wrong with it?" Gaara asked, relying on Naruto's previous knowledge to keep him from ordering something disgusting.

"Nothing's wrong with it," Naruto laughed, "I just can't believe you picked one so easily!"

"?"

But Gaara understood when, five minutes later, Naruto'd made up and changed his mind so many times he'd lost count. Eventually, he'd asked Gaara what he thought he should have and he'd suggested he stick with the honeycomb flavour he'd been umming and aahing over. Naruto beamed Gaara a grateful smile and delved into the little shop to make their order.

Gaara watched him through the window, sitting on the low brick wall outside. He admired the way the blonde didn't let anyone push in front of him, and at the same time, made sure not to cut in front of anyone else either. He watched the way he smiled at the other people, making polite conversation. At first glance, he seemed to be very comfortable there, chatting with the strangers but every now and then, an expression flashed across his face which Gaara recognised with a stab of pain. Naruto, even in that parlour, was trying to fit in when it didn't come naturally... He was lonely.

_Well, not anymore. _Gaara vowed, _He's got me. But... Doesn't he also have Sai and the pink haired girl? _Gaara wondered why Naruto, who was surrounded by friends, still had that look in his eyes.

Naruto came back out, an ice-cream in each hand, a victorious grin all over his face.

"Here y'go! I didn't ask if you wanted a flake or not, but I got you one anyway just in case." Naruto explained as he handed Gaara his ice-cream. Gaara had to think about it, but he made himself smile when he said,

"Thank you, Naruto."

"You don't have to do that." Naruto replied kindly.

"Do what?" Gaara asked, the smile dropping from his face to be replaced by genuine confusion.

"I get enough of those fake smiles from Sai. You don't have to force it for my sake, because..."

Gaara waited, amazed that Naruto had known his smile wasn't natural.

"You don't have to force a smile for me, Gaara because I can see you smiling with your eyes." Naruto said, grinning a lopsided grin.

"In that case, you don't have to either." Gaara replied just as kindly, sticking his flake into Naruto's ice-cream. He saw a similar surprise cross Naruto's face before the blonde smiled softly.

"You're the first person who ever noticed." He said quietly, his eyes darkening in the fading light. Dragging his gaze from Gaara's, Naruto turned and nibbled on the flake awkwardly, leading Gaara up to the pub, then down a path which ran beside it until they were between fields. Gaara craned his neck to try and see over the hedges into the field on his left, licking at is ice-cream every now and then. Naruto, seeing where he was looking, shuffled a little closer to the hedge and jumped on the spot a couple of times to get a better look. Gaara chuckled lightly at his antics and was still sporting a lingering smile when Naruto turned excitedly and grabbed his hand to lead him to a place where the hedge was thinner. Again, Gaara couldn't help but focus on their linked hands and the comforting feel of Naruto's palm against his.

"Baby cows." Naruto whispered when they tiptoed against the wall and peered over the top, trying to see through the branches. Gaara, being slightly shorter than Naruto, couldn't see anything and he was _not_ going to hop madly on the spot like Naruto had. Instead, he tried to find a hold for his toes slightly higher up the wall, effectively climbing it. He'd just caught a glimpse of what he thought _might_ have been the back of a miniature cow, when he lost his footing and slipped with a little yelp of surprise.

Strong arms stopped him from hurting himself, and he looked up into Naruto's eyes.

"You can't see?"

Gaara shook his head, ashamed. But he didn't have much time to dwell on his infuriating shortness before he felt himself being lifted from the ground by a very sensitive place. He flailed his arms madly before grabbing onto the wall desperately, trying to balance as Naruto stood up with a very embarrassed Gaara now sitting on his shoulders. Naruto was feeling pretty pleased with himself, but he could tell that Gaara was uncomfortable.

"Can you see now?" He asked, grinning. Even though he couldn't see the blonde's face, Gaara could tell that he was grinning. There was laughter in his voice, and Gaara cringed at the thought that Naruto might be laughing _at_ him. He steeled himself, and he found he actually now had a clear view of the field and he spotted the calves Naruto had been so excited about. Gaara had to admit he'd never seen such a small cow before, and they were rather sweet.

"Yeah, I can see them." He said, "Can you put me down now?"

Naruto chuckled as he lowered himself into a crouch and allowed Gaara to step down. He laughed even more as Gaara backed away from him a little, as if afraid that he'd pull a similar stunt again.

"Heeheehee." Gaara cringed away, his ears burning again as Naruto giggled. He'd made a fool of himself, he thought, shuddering again.

"Hey, you cold again? How can you still be cold when you've got a jacket on?" Naruto asked, eyeing the shuddering Gaara curiously and remembering his thought from earlier. "D'you live somewhere warm?"

Gaara looked up when Naruto put his arm around his shoulders as he spoke, hoping to warm the little red head like he had the night they met. Gaara unconsciously leaned into him as they began to walk again, seeking the familiar warmth the blonde seemed to radiate.

"We used to live in Italy." He said, earning a raised eyebrow from his companion, who had a mouthful of ice-cream and couldn't speak at that moment. Gaara's eyes sparkled with amusement and he continued. "My father owned a lot of property over there, he was a rich man."

Naruto, who'd just finished flapping his hand in front of his face to recover from a brainfreeze, said, "Was?"

Gaara's smirk looked odd, it wasn't sad but it spoke of bad memories. "He was involved in some black market trading, and was killed by one of his competitors. Don't look like that though," Gaara said quickly when Naruto began to look sympathetic, "He was an awful man."

"So... where do you live now?"

"I live with my siblings in Bristol." He said.

"Seriously? What school d'you go to?" Naruto asked excitedly, his question instantly telling Gaara that he lived close by.

"BGS." Gaara noticed Naruto's eyes drift towards him, impressed.

"Grammar school huh? I knew you were too smart for me." The blonde pouted, and Gaara returned his attention to his ice-cream to avoid talking about it further.

"Well I go to sixth form at St. Katherine's. It's kind of a way out of town but it's a pretty good school." Naruto said, telling Gaara about the huge fields and the swanky new performing arts block, and the teachers he liked or didn't like. Gaara had heard of the school, they'd competed against them once or twice in one thing or another, he was sure. But he'd never met anyone outside of his school. Well, really, he'd just never met anyone. Anywhere.

They fell into step, Naruto's arm around Gaara's thin shoulders, and they chatted about this and that, making their way slowly but surely in the direction of the beach. Naruto finished his ice-cream first, while Gaara still had a lot left, and Gaara caught him looking at it occasionally. Leaning into Naruto's side, Gaara would hold up his ice-cream every now and then to let the blonde have some. He was always rewarded with a chuckle and a squeeze.

"I jumped right over this this morning." Naruto commented as he followed Gaara cross the concrete slab across the little stream. Gaara looked at him over his shoulder, then looked down at the stream, seeming to gauge the distance from one side to the other.

"Why?" He asked, clearly wondering what was wrong with the makeshift bridge. Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled,

"I was in a hurry I guess."

"What for?" Gaara asked curiously as he waited for Naruto to walk up beside him again. The blonde did so, and held Gaara's hand as he pondered what to say.

"Well... Sai told me you were here, so..."

"... For me?"

"Heehee, yeah." Naruto squeezed Gaara's hand and nudged him playfully with his arm. "For you."

Gaara's lonely heart couldn't comprehend this at first, but a great, kindly warmth blossomed in his chest when he realised that Naruto had been so eager to find him.

"I found your sandcastle." Naruto said as they sat down on the soft bank of sand at the top of the beach. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow.

"How did you know if it was mine?"

"Are you kidding? It was huge!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing out his arms to emphasize his wonder. "When Sai showed me your picture, I thought it looked kinda big, but... That was the biggest, coolest sandcastle I've ever seen!"

Gaara was blinking at him. "He showed you the picture?..." His ears burned when he remembered that he'd also seen Naruto's, so he shouldn't really complain.

Naruto, however, looked similarly uncomfortable. "Yeah... He gave it to me actually."

Now the burning spread onto his cheeks, and Gaara tried to hide his face behind his fringe again to hide them. Naruto chuckled though, and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Hey, you don't have to be embarrassed about... hey, what's that?" Naruto brought up his other hand and traced the lines which graced Gaara's forehead. The mark had been hidden by his hair before now, and Naruto wondered what it was that made the boy hide it.

It was a tattoo, _Or is it... I think this is a _scar! Naruto thought as he felt the raised lettering.

"Gaara..."

Gaara moved his head away, smoothing his fringe down to hide the scar once again from view. He kept his hand there, as if he were protecting it.

"Gaara, who did that to you?"

"... My mother."

"Why? That's... It's..." Naruto felt his anger rising in defence of his friend.

"She knew I wouldn't remember her... it was the only way she could... tell me forever how much she... I was..." Gaara's words became strained, struggling to voice the words. Naruto understood, and his gaze became softer as he pushed Gaara's hair aside to look at the scar again.

_Love..._

"What happened to her?" Naruto asked quietly, a little worried about upsetting the thin man beside him. Gaara's pale, dark ringed, frightened eyes slid up to meet his own, begging for comfort.

"She died, after I was born..."

Naruto pulled Gaara into his lap and held him, replying to the plea in Gaara's eyes. For a long time, they sat like that, watching the light fading around them.

Watching the sea reflecting the colours bouncing from the bottoms of the clouds which dotted the sky, Gaara thought he might know why people were still visiting the beach at this hour. He smiled, and timidly, lifted his arms and wrapped them around the boy who held him so safely. He felt Naruto's sigh shifting his red hair as the blonde held him tighter.

They weren't sure when the sky went dark, but after a while, even Naruto was feeling the cold. He shivered, and thought of how cold Gaara must be feeling, since he seemed to be sensitive to it. But when he whispered to him, Gaara didn't reply. Confused, Naruto gave the redhead a little shake, and the thin body he held just leaned heavily into his side. Gaara was asleep. Naruto felt a warmth within him, he couldn't believe he'd really made the redhead feel comfortable enough to fall asleep… And he looked so cute when he was sleeping… Naruto smiled softly. _Maybe there's hope for me after all._

Reluctantly, he woke up his sleepy companion and helped him get unsteadily to his feet, smiling when Gaara leaned on him to keep his balance. He walked the drowsy Gaara back to his tent, gave him one last quick hug, and made his way back towards the main road.

So deep in thought was he, that he didn't hear the hurried footsteps behind him.

A jacket was placed softly over his shoulders.

He turned around to see Gaara smiling at him, _really_ smiling at him. The red head came a step closer, and Naruto held his breath, wondering if he'd fallen asleep on his feet and this was all a dream. Gaara rested his hands on Naruto's shoulders and got up on his tiptoes, pressing his lips into Naruto's forehead. Naruto wasn't holding his breath anymore, he just _couldn't_ breathe. The little redhead stepped back and his beautiful eyes twinkled with mischief… and… something warm which tugged at Naruto's heartstrings.

"You can keep that jacket, if you like." Gaara said, "But it might be a little small."

"Gaara…"

Gaara's face split into a fleeting grin, and Naruto felt the world shift around him. His legs didn't feel like they'd hold him but mercifully, he stayed on his feet as Gaara turned and walked away, ducking his head into his tent and disappearing from view.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: This is a short one, but hopefully it puts across what I wanted it to. (I'm not telling what that is, I'm gonna wait and see if anyone picks up on it!) There's one more to go after this, and it will be a nice long one so... (she gives a thumbs up)_

_Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to, I don't own these characters, Masashi Kishimoto does._

* * *

Gaara waved over his shoulder as he paid for the three little pubs of ice-cream, smiling slightly as Kankuro and Temari shoved each other into the little booths, urging each other to hurry up before Gaara's treat melted. They'd been satisfyingly astounded when Gaara knew what flavours they liked, ordering them before they even had a chance to argue and now, they were both hurrying to change out of their wetsuits. No easy task, even if you were taking your time.

Placing the strawberry pot beside him and the chocolate across from that, Gaara sat down at the little picnic bench outside the kiosk to wait. He picked at his mint flavoured ice-cream thoughtfully, with a happy feeling settling into his chest. He was beginning to recognise the kindling glow which kindness breathed into his body, and he was relieved that he could garner it from his siblings also. It would make things much more bearable when they eventually returned to their Clifton home.

Gaara felt his happy little bubble pop unexpectedly. He didn't want to go home, he was honestly enjoying himself in this quaint little village. He knew that it had a lot to do with his new blonde friend, but he refused to admit that it was anything more than that, even as the bubble began to swell within him once more as he recalled for the umpteenth time that morning, their escapade last night.

So lost in thought was he, that until she cleared her throat, Gaara didn't notice the girl standing awkwardly on the other side of the table.

The pink haired girl shifted on her feet, eyeing the seat in front of her. "D'you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" She asked. Gaara, who was slightly wary of this woman he knew to have a formidable temper, motioned to the seat across from him politely, dipping his head. She swung her legs around the bench and clasped her hands in front of her, seeming to gather her thoughts.

Gaara wondered what the girl could possibly want, but he waited patiently, staring at her with a blank expression until she finally began to speak.

"It's Gaara, right?"

Gaara nodded, then said, "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

She seemed surprised, her pink eyebrow arching as she asked, "Naruto and Sai never talked about me?"

"Well, yes." Gaara admitted, but his face showed none of the shame he should have felt when he added, "But Sai only referred to you as Naruto's 'ugly friend.'"

A vein pulsed in the woman's forehead before she quickly cleared her throat again to cover up the reaction. Gaara glanced over at the changing stalls across the little street which led directly onto the beach, hoping Kankuro, at least, would be done soon and would be able to back him up if this woman lost it.

Smiling sweetly, she told him, "My name's Sakura."

Gaara politely held out a hand to Naruto's friend and forced a little smile onto his face. "Pleased to meet you, Sakura."

He wasn't sure if she could tell how much he doubted his own words, but she shook his hand and smiled more normally. "You, too. I'm uh... sorry about what happened at the services. I was a little surprised you see."

Gaara shook his head, hoping she'd accept his uncertain forgiveness. He wasn't completely sure if he was comfortable with this woman yet. She didn't make any threatening movements though, in fact she sighed and her posture seemed to relax a little at his gesture.

"Would you mind if I explained myself?" She asked seriously. "It's important… for Naruto's sake."

He didn't really care what Sakura had to say for herself, but he shrugged his shoulders and said, "By all means," picking at his ice-cream again.

Sakura took a deep breath and Gaara glanced up at her curiously.

"Has Naruto told you what he does?" She asked unexpectedly. Gaara nodded.

"He said he's studying to work in social care."

"Right, and what else?"

Gaara frowned. "He said he helps out at a nursing home three nights a week, and when he's not doing that, he's studying or visiting his friends."

"Hm. That's all true, but he doesn't just _visit_ his friends you know."

Gaara's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

"He's like a therapist for them. Naruto goes out of his way to help people improve their lives, whatever the cost on his own time… and his own emotions."

That sounded like the sort of thing Gaara could imagine Naruto doing, so he nodded, inviting Sakura to carry on.

"We works himself silly. He never gives himself time to recover from all the studying and the work and the therapy. He's been digging himself into a hole for years, and I'm worried about him. He's been losing sleep, he's not eating as much… And yet he still excels at school, he still gets tonnes of praise from the care home managers and his friends continue to live happy lives." She dropped her head guiltily. "Myself included. It's just... too much pressure for one person."

"Do you have any idea how little Naruto looks after himself?" She asked him gently. Gaara's heart was sinking with dread as he slowly shook his head.

"He hides it from us." She continued, "Because that's the kind of selfless person he is. He doesn't _want_ us to worry about him. He wants _us_ to be happy."

She leaned forward, her eyes begging for Gaara to understand. "But _I_ want _him_ to be happy. He's done so much for all of us, he deserves to be the happiest man there's ever been!"

"I understand all of this," Gaara said quietly, "But what does it have to do with what happened at the services?"

A slideshow of expressions flashed across Sakura's face. Guilt, shame, admiration, fear… But Gaara couldn't pinpoint any in particular and in a moment, her face became serious again.

"I was concerned," She began, "That you would turn out to be another Sai… someone who Naruto would devote all his time and effort to, for months on end. I brought Naruto on this holiday so he could relax, have some "me-time" but I was concerned, when he met you, that he'd end up doing exactly the same thing here, with you, that he did back home with everyone else."

_Why do I get the feeling that I'm repeating myself? _She thought with a tinge of irritation.

Gaara stared into his ice-cream pot, a knot of doubt beginning to tie itself around his bubble of happiness, constricting it. What Sakura said made sense, but it made him afraid that he was only adding to Naruto's problems. He recognised how happy the blonde was making him, but... Was he really making Naruto happy, too?

"I saw Naruto last night, after he got back." Sakura said with a little smile. "He was completely dazed, I've never seen him like that before." Curiously, she leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with the anticipation of hearing some new gossip. "What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Gaara repeated softly, wondering how much Naruto would want the woman to know. Or, judging by the look in her eyes, how much Naruto wanted everyone she knew to know. Deciding to play it safe, Gaara leaned back, away from Sakura's curious eyes and said equally as softly,

"Nothing, really. We just talked."

"What about?"

Gaara gave her an irritated glance, letting her know she was being intrusive. "Stuff."

Gaara almost smirked at the disappointment which swept across Sakura's face. It looked like she'd realised she wasn't going to get any information out of him, and he suddenly pitied Naruto, who was bound to get the full brunt of her interrogation later.

"Listen, Gaara... I can see you're a nice guy. Sai was right about you." She smiled genuinely. "And I can see how you're affecting Naruto. Now that I've explained to you why I was worried, I hope you're not too confused when I say I take it all back."

Gaara _was_ confused, but he politely shook his head, watching her until she continued.

"You see... I'm not worried about it anymore, because... Naruto's not acting like he did when he found out about Sai or Neji or Sasuke or any of the others... He's not... excited about how he's going to _help_ you."

Again, she leaned forward, and Gaara could see the sincerity in her green eyes when she said,

"He's excited... about _you_."

"Me?..." Gaara's blank facade slipped from him, replaced by an expression which was the very picture of vulnerability, confusion and disbelief. Sakura's smile widened with genuine friendliness when she saw his barriers drop away. He really was a sweet guy.

Gaara couldn't process what the pink haired girl had just said, and after a moment, he assumed that she meant he was excited about seeing him, about being his friend and going out with him. The wording of that last thought brought a flush of warmth to his cheeks and he jerked his head to the side to hide it from the girl who he knew was watching him closely. _I didn't mean it like _that!

He frowned at the girl again when she giggled, and she smirked a little as she said cryptically, "It looks like Sai was right about more than one thing." Gaara's frown deepened and she winked at him, getting gracefully to her feet just as Gaara spotted Kankuro and Temari emerging from across the road. He waved to them, and Sakura glanced over her shoulder at the approaching teens before leaning back over the table and whispering urgently,

"Just promise me you'll make him happy?"

Gaara smiled, bowing his head as he replied honestly, "I'll do all I can."

Sakura grinned, and after a light, grateful squeeze of Gaara's hand, she quickly walked away.

"Who was that?" Temari asked as they approached the table, eyeing the retreating back of the pink haired stranger with a defensive stare. Kankuro looked as if he wanted to ask the same, but the way _he_ watched her walking away showed a very different motivation.

"I'll tell you in a minute." Gaara said, finally placing a spoonful of ice-cream into his mouth and using the empty spoon to point at the tubs beside him. "But first, you'd better eat that."

* * *

_Author's Note: I'll get started on the last chapter soon, and I'll check it meticulously to make sure it's as good as I can possibly make it! Thanks for reading and thank you for the reviews! They make my day every time ^-^ xx_


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: Well, this is it :) I hope you've liked my lil' story so far, and I really hope you like the ending ^-^_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the genius who created them in the first place :D_

* * *

Gaara leaned against the wall, listening to Naruto chatter as he checked his e-mail on the public computer. They were in the café on the Ruda site where Gaara and his siblings got breakfast every morning. Naruto had joined them today, and Temari and Kankuro had been astounded by how much Naruto contrasted their little brother. I mean, for one thing, the kid just _did not shut up!_

But when they'd seen how the two of them seemed to speak to one another without saying a word, they'd smiled to themselves and Temari had unceremoniously shoved Kankuro out of his seat and out of the café, telling Gaara they were headed to the beach to soak up as much sun as they could before they headed home.

Headed home…

Gaara flinched. _That's right… We're leaving today…_

He looked over at Naruto, absorbing as much of him into his memory as he could. He didn't want to leave yet, but it couldn't be helped. Naruto caught him looking at him with a funny look on his face and the blonde's smile dropped from him as his eyes became just as sad as Gaara's.

"Don't look like that, Gaara… Please?"

Gaara let a sad little smile tug at his lips, but Naruto wasn't convinced. The blonde pouted at him, then forced himself to look back at the screen in front of him. Gaara wasn't fooled by _that_, he could see that Naruto's eyes weren't scanning the screen anymore and they shimmered with the tears he was stubbornly holding back. He knew the feeling.

"_He's excited… About _You_."_

Sakura's words echoed in Gaara's mind and he shook his head to rid himself of the questions he wished he'd asked her. Watching Naruto holding back tears, Gaara wondered…

_Am I really making him happy?_

"_I'll do all I can."_

Gaara clutched at his head, clenching his teeth as he fought against his memory. He wanted to make Naruto happy, but the blonde was clearly nothing of the sort. Gaara felt completely lost, he'd been doing everything he could think of in the last few days, anything he could to keep that smile on Naruto's face. Why had he suddenly… it was as if someone turned out the lights.

"Gaara? What's wrong?"

Concern. Gaara opened his eyes and they were locked instantly to the blue ones which fixed him with a worried gaze.

_Stupid! Selfish! _Selfish!

Gaara felt the door press into his side again and threw a deadly glare at the staff member who was appearing from the kitchens. The young woman flinched, hurrying to the tables and doing her best to hide behind the screen in the centre of the café.

"Gaara. Gaara, look at me. What is it? 're you worried about going home? Is that it?"

Guilt. Gaara couldn't stand it! He could see what Naruto was doing, he knew what Sakura meant when she said he did nothing but worry about everyone else. Naruto was unhappy, but he was worrying about Gaara. He couldn't stand it! Naruto should be the one being worried about, _Why am I letting him neglect himself?_

"Naruto."

The blonde's eyes never left Gaara's face, he felt them even though his head was turned.

"Has this all been for my sake?"

"Huh?"

Gaara clutched at the fabric of his shirt, over his heart. He could feel it beating heavily behind his skin as he desperately clenched his eyes shut to restrain the tears which fought to escape. He bit his lip, trying to distract himself from the pain which grasped his chest in a tight grip and threatened to crush him. He'd never felt so vulnerable.

Naruto, who'd watched this silently, slowly dipped his head and frowned at Gaara's shoulder.

"You spoke to Sakura, huh."

His voice was cold, and when Gaara glanced at him, his eyes were steely hard. Guilt added it's venomous ache to Gaara's torment and the red haired boy almost let out a strangled cry when he nodded his head sharply and saw Naruto's eyes drift up to meet his own once more.

Not only were they hard, but they shimmered with hurt… and fear. Gaara screwed up his face once more, and that tiny strangled cry he'd barely held in last time passed his lips, forming the sounds of Naruto's name.

The blonde suddenly stood up, knocking over his chair as he stepped around the desk and stood right in front of Gaara, staring at Gaara's face until the red head finally dared to meet his eyes. Both pairs of eyes, pale green and blue, showed how afraid they were…how sad they felt.

Naruto took hold of Gaara's hand and dragged the shorter man behind him as he strode out of the café. He ignored the chirpy farewells and waves of the staff, and Gaara, who received no such sentiments, was the one who waved over his shoulder at them as they disappeared through the doors.

Gaara knew that there were tears streaming down Naruto's face, even though he couldn't see it. Every time one fell from his sun kissed skin, it sparkled in the sunlight before staining the pavement beneath their feet. Gaara's throat constricted, he almost choked on the guilt.

"Please don't… Naruto please don't cry!"

But the blonde didn't hear Gaara's pleas. Or he couldn't stop. When Gaara squeezed Naruto's hand, the force with which Naruto squeezed back almost broke Gaara's delicate bones and Gaara could see the shoulders of his kind friend tremble, could hear the shuddering breath he took.

Gaara was sure his heart was breaking.

Naruto continued to tow Gaara down the road, past the beach, past the field where the market had been and finally into a field and up onto a path. Gaara looked behind him, and realised they were climbing the hill behind the Ruda site. He'd seen several people walking this way from his spot outside his tent, but he didn't know where it went.

They climbed over a stile, and suddenly the bushes on either side of them became tall walls, stretching into a canopy above their heads in places. If he looked close enough, Gaara was sure he could see the sparkling sea between the branches, far below.

Naruto's tears had finally stopped, but his pace didn't let up as he continued to lead Gaara by the hand further and further up the hill, never once taking in the view as Gaara did. Gaara desperately wanted to stop his friend and comfort him, but Naruto obviously had a reason for dragging him all the way out here, so he waited. Each moment that passed adding it's guilty weight to the invisible load on Gaara's shoulders.

Finally, they emerged onto a bare expanse of grass, sweeping up only a little further before the hill levelled out and reluctantly dipped into a decline. Naruto dropped Gaara's hand as the red haired man took the last few steps up to the top and looked over.

To his left lay the sea, a long way below them. Several metres from where he stood, the ground fell away steeply into the sea where the rocks which supported it lay exposed to the elements. In front of him, Gaara was surprised at how far the coast went. He'd thought this hill was a one off, that there'd be another beach on the other side, but what he saw instead was grass, rising and falling with the ground beneath it as the hills rolled on and on into the distance before finally dipping below another tall hilltop. He wondered if that was the last of them, or if, should he walk there, there'd be more beyond them. He followed the coastal trail with his eyes, spotting a few walkers weaving their way along the little path.

Naruto stood where he'd been when he'd let Gaara's hand slip from his own, watching the beautiful man take in the view. Naruto pushed his palm into his forehead, muttering to himself as he walked, brushing past Gaara's left arm and coming to a stop a few paces away, staring out to sea. Gaara turned is head and suddenly all that weight came back and he was crushed by the deflated way Naruto held himself. Carefully, Gaara stepped towards his friend, but he was stopped by the soft, trembling voice which drifted toward him on the breeze.

"I know what she told you. And I guess… I guess she's right."

Gaara remained frozen where he stood, three steps behind Naruto, and reminded himself to breathe.

"I keep myself busy… as much as I can. It's stressful as hell but it's better than…" Naruto's voice began to falter and he hugged himself tighter. Gaara felt the words Naruto meant to say in his heart and didn't realise he'd spoken them until Naruto's tear streaked face turned towards him in surprise. Naruto swallowed, his eyes falling from Gaara's sympathetic face to the grassy ground as he confirmed,

"Yeah… it's better than… than being alone."

"It's true that I spend a lot of time with friends, there's nothing more important to me than their happiness. They're the people who… who keep me from the hell that's loneliness. It's the least I can do to thank them for putting up with me. And… It's the only way I…" Naruto's eyes pressed themselves closed, tears squeezing their way past his eyelashes.

"It's the only way I can make sure they stay. If I can make them happy… they won't leave me."

He laughed, a bitter laugh which made Gaara's already aching heart clench painfully.

"They all think I'm the most selfless person in the world… but I'm not." He looked sadly at his feet. "I'm just being selfish… They don't really know me at all."

"Naruto, you're not…" Gaara was cut off as Naruto held up his hand, he wasn't finished yet.

"It's ironic, right? That I put all my time and energy into keeping friends, to fight off the loneliness… and yet I still feel alone. There's no one around me who really understands me, and that's a very lonely thing to live with. But it's better… than really being alone. Being misunderstood it better than being alone. _Anything's_ better than being alone."

Gaara's own tears now ran down his pale cheeks as he listened to Naruto pour all the things he kept inside into the palms of Gaara's hands. The Naruto that Sai drew… the sad look in that Naruto's eyes… this was why.

Naruto was as lonely as Gaara had been.

And now, it was Gaara's turn to eliminate that loneliness.

He slowly approached his crying friend, gently cradling Naruto's hand between both of his own. Naruto turned again, his sad, sad eyes melting Gaara's heart until yet _more_ tears filled his soft, pale eyes. There was a question in Naruto's eyes, and Gaara gave Naruto's hand a gently squeeze as he answered,

"You're not alone anymore… I'm here. I understand."

Naruto's face transformed, a happy smile lending a sparkle to his eyes. He turned into his red haired companion, leaning his head on the shorter man's shoulder. Gaara wasn't sure what to do, and timidly wrapped his arms around the blonde man, rubbing his hand in large circles across Naruto's back.

"It wasn't… just for your sake." Naruto whispered against Gaara's shirt, sending a shiver through the red haired man as he felt Naruto's lips moving against the fabric. Naruto brought up his own arms, holding Gaara tightly as he struggled not to cry again. "Approaching you… was probably the most selfish thing I've ever done."

Gaara's eyes shot open, _What? What does he mean?_ Naruto chuckled softly when he felt Gaara tense in his arms and leaned back to look into Gaara's bewildered eyes. With a strange look on his face, Naruto lifted his hand and softly stroked Gaara's cheek. The tender contact sent Gaara's arm into autopilot, and he soon found himself cupping Naruto's hand against his face.

"When I saw you… sitting on that fence… You were just staring out at the sun. The way the light hit your face, you… You looked beautiful."

Gaara's cheeks flushed, and he was sure that Naruto could feel the increase in temperature beneath his palm, because the blonde smiled at him, a strange sparkle in his eyes which made Gaara's chest feel light, like all the air in his body had forced itself into his ribcage and intended to lift him from the ground, weightless.

"Then you wrapped your arms around yourself… and you looked around. You watched all the families settling down for the night, and there was this look in your eyes… Then… Your face just collapsed, and you clutched at your head and curled up on yourself."

Gaara recalled feeling the cold throb of unbearable… isolation… before Naruto'd placed his jacket around him.

"I knew… that you understood what loneliness was like. And I…" Naruto's gaze dropped to the ground between their shoes. What little there was.

"I wanted… someone to hold… someone who'd understand… who would know me, for all that I am. And… When I wrapped my jacket around you and you brought it up to your face like that… I felt like you'd turned on the lights inside of me. I hoped you could… I hoped…" He shook as he struggled against his fear… of being left alone.

Naruto watched as the grass between their feet disappeared under Gaara's shoes. The older man had stepped closer, pulling Naruto into a hug and pressing himself securely against the blonde's chest. Naruto's eyes welled up and Gaara felt the damp spot on his shoulder as Naruto hugged him back.

"I know it was selfish, but I so badly wanted you to be the person I could hold in my arms and feel at home with, like this... I saw you and I… I…"

"Shhh.. Naruto, you don't have to explain anymore."

"I'm so sorry, Gaara… For forcing myself on you like that. I was so, so selfish! It was so selfish of me to assume that you'd… that you could…"

Gaara held his fingers to Naruto's lips, but the blonde just carried on talking.

"You deserve so much better than me! I'm just a selfish jerk! I should never have…" He groaned and squeezed Gaara so tightly that the redhead gasped. "I can't do it! I know it was wrong of me to be so selfish, but if I could go back… I'd still do it again. Even if I only ended up making you unhappy, even if you… if you left me… It's better to have loved and lost, than to've never loved at all, right?"

_Better to have loved..._

_Loved…_

_**Loved…**_

Gaara felt a smile spread across his face as his whole body filled with warmth. _Love. He really meant it!_ He laughed, a soft chuckle which overflowed with joy as he stepped back and cupped Naruto's face between in his hands. On that face was an exquisite expression mixed with confusion and beautiful, beautiful hope. Gaara smiled up at his kind blonde stranger, who was a stranger no longer, and slipped one hand around to rest behind Naruto's head.

"If that's the case," He murmured softly, still smiling, "If that really makes you selfish,"

He slowly pulled Naruto's head towards him, leaning up on his tiptoes and whispering as Naruto wrapped his arms around Gaara's thin waist,

"Then I guess we're both being self-centred."

When Gaara brushed his lips against Naruto's, it was as if something inside of him finally fell into place. When their lips moved together, it was slightly clumsy, but all the sweeter for it. Softly… softly… they revelled in the feelings which flowed through them, uniting them as only a first kiss could.

"Gaara…" Naruto whispered, pulling away only enough to rest his forehead against Gaara's. His eyes flickered up, and his smile spread into a cheeky grin as he brushed Gaara's fringe to the side and gently pressed a kiss onto the letter scarred into his forehead.

_Love._

Gaara smiled, a tender little smile which lit up his eyes.

"Gaara?" Naruto smiled, resting their foreheads together again, his arms still around Gaara's waist, Gaara's still cupping Naruto's face and stroking the hair on the back of his head.

"Mm?" came the hummed reply, sea-foam green eyes, outlined in a black line which only emphasized the way they overflowed with affection, turning up to look at him.

"Can I give you my e-mail address?" Naruto asked, grinning happily.

Equally bright grin on his face, Gaara shook his head.

Naruto's head jerked up when he felt that gesture against his forehead. "What? Why? I thought…"

Gaara pressed his fingers to Naruto's lips, and this time the blonde shut up, his eyes never leaving the bright smile which was lighting up the pale, red headed man's beautiful face.

"I already have it."

"What? How?"

Gaara slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. He held it up for Naruto to see and felt his heart swell at the adorable confusion which followed the flash recognition which flickered across Naruto's face.

"I found this in my bag."

"Eh? But how…" Naruto's eyes suddenly widened and his mouth hung open as he realised, "Sai! That sneaky bastard!"

Gaara began to chuckle, and Naruto, finding the sound contagious, giggled. They both laughed, and they continued to laugh. They laughed at each other laughing until they were leaning heavily on each other just to hold themselves up and, unfortunately, they both hysterically fell over, laughing and laughing until finally, hiccupping and chuckling a little as they calmed down, they just lay quietly in each others' arms, watching the clouds waltz slowly across the sky. Naruto pointed out shapes, laughing when Gaara frowned, trying to find them. They were happy, and they were together.

No longer strangers. No longer alone.

They pretended that they didn't hear the phone which rang in Gaara's pocket.

"Five more minutes…"Gaara murmured as he turned the device off and snuggled back into his kind, blonde, giggling partner's side. Five minutes… He was sure Temari and Kankuro could afford to wait that long.

* * *

_Author's Note: Hehe, well there we go ^-^ My little one-shot turned eight-shot's all finished. Thank you very very much for all the reviews and for making my story a favourite, it means the world to me, it really does :D This story owes itself to the reviewers who read the first chapter and wanted to see more, because without them, it would have been the only chapter so THANK YOU! Thank you for reading everyone, and goodnight! :)_

_The author, Emma x_


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